


Questions and Answers

by FilmFreak94



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 02:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5230601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FilmFreak94/pseuds/FilmFreak94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greg is getting ready for a date with Rose Quartz, and to pop an important question (but not that question).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Questions and Answers

**Author's Note:**

> This story went through a huge change in a really short period of time. It was initially going to tell the complete story, as it were, of how Greg and Rose met and their relationship up until Steven was born. And the way it played out was interesting for a number of reasons.
> 
> One, because I had it planned as a birthday present for one of my friends for her birthday last year but I ended up doing something else instead. Two, because when I was deciding what I wanted to write this year this came up in my head again and I decided to take a crack at it a few weeks before her birthday in April. Then I found out about the episode "Story for Steven"...
> 
> I just decided to wait for the episode to come out and then write around whatever happened in there which was a little bit challenging cause the episode aired like, three or four days before her birthday but when I'm motivated enough I can actually finish something. That was not interesting at all, I apologize.
> 
> But what is interesting, and what you should probably keep in mind while reading this is that this is before the show started dropping other bombs on us concerning Rose and her relationships with Greg and Pearl and possibly other humans across her long time on Earth so some stuff's a little... kinda out of character in hindsight. But in my defense I had no idea they'd be doing another 80s Gems story so soon after the first so whatever, it's just a dumb fanfic that I'm kind of proud of. There's probably some errors in there I'm too lazy to pick out from a seven month old story but I figured if I'm sharing stories here this is better than most.
> 
> So yeah, that got long-winded. I hope you have fun reading it.

“Da da da da da da. Da da da da da dum do do- no, that’s horrible.” He scribbled furiously in his notebook. He’d been at this for hours already, as the scrunched up balls of paper lying around him and across the sand would attest. He was leaning against his van, currently parked on the beach. The sun blared down on him giving him either a very well done tan or a serious sunburn he’d have to wait and see. He couldn’t be bothered with shading himself at the moment, every thought in his brain wracked around getting this song right.

“Dum dum, da da da. Da da da da da da- ugh.” Another ball of scrunched up paper joined its brothers. “Why is it so hard to figure this one out?” He clawed at his scalp buried underneath his long hair, maybe in the hopes that if he clawed deep enough something (preferably other than blood) might come out. As it was all he could find was what he had been dealing with for the past half an afternoon. “Nothing.”

“Whatcha up to?!” A shrill voice piped up from above him. He jumped, sending several balls of paper rolling or flying off of him. He looked up to reveal the source of the noise; a little purple girl in a light blue tunic with a dark purple tank top underneath, and dark purple pants to match. A shiny purple gem in the center of her chest peeked out of the top of her tunic. She kicked her dangling legs as she observed him.

“Oh, it’s you Amethyst.” He sighed in relief.

“Yep!” In a flash she leaped from the top of the van, flipping twice in the air before landing directly on his stomach.

“OOF! Ooooh my-”

“What are you writing music man?”

“Just-ow, it’s nothing.” He pushed his notebook aside. “What are you doing on this side of the fence anyway, I thought you weren’t allowed by yourself.”

“Pfft, whatever.” She rolled her eyes and proceeded to roll off of him and onto the sand. “Pearl’s not the boss of me. Besides, you weren’t allowed on our side of the fence.”

 “Well that was different.”

“Like how?” She retorted.

“Ah,” he started but couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse. Kid was good.

“Aaaaaaaaanyway,” she said as she slowly reached her arm towards his side, “lemme see that!” In a swift motion she snatched the notebook and began shuffling through its pages.

 “Hey! Give that back!” He chased Amethyst in circles around the beach as she read the page he had been feverishly working on all day.

“What are all these squiqqles?” She called back and showed him the notebook as she kept running.

“It’s sheet music!” Greg panted.

“Eeeeeew.” Amethyst giggled which turned into hysterical laughter. She tripped and skidded onto the sand, laughing all the way. He finally caught up with her and snatched the notebook back, she was too busy laughing to care.

“Not like that.” He affirmed. “I mean it’s the way you write musical notes. Look,” he pointed to one of the ‘squiqqles,’ “See this one’s a high note, and that’s a b-flat. And this weird one that looks like a ‘P’ that’s actually a-”

“Don’t care.” Amethyst said bluntly, finally coming down from her high and staring blankly at the clouds up above. “What are you doing it for anyway?” He blushed.

“Well I uh… I kinda wanted to write Rose a song.” Amethyst shot up from her back.

“Ooooooooooooh, you want to give her a looooooooove song?”

“Yes, I mean no, I mean…” he stammered. He wasn’t really sure what he was feeling towards this woman named Rose Quartz. The first time he met her had only been a few weeks ago. But instantly there was something about her that was different. Different from any other woman he had ever met. In literal terms it was probably due to the fact that she was about eight feet tall and had some sort of gem attached to her belly button, but it went deeper than that. Much deeper.

“I don’t know.” He finally admitted. “I guess… yeah I guess it is a love song.” He smiled weakly. He wasn’t really sure he knew what actual love was. He’d probably felt what he thought was love plenty of times for any girl in high school he happened to have a crush on that week, but this was something different. An overall uncontrollable and euphoric feeling of… warm.

“Blegh.” Amethyst stuck her tongue out and began rolling away in the sand. He rolled his eyes and chuckled. He didn’t suppose a little girl would understand it. Heck he barely understood it. All he knew was that what he wanted to do most for Rose right now was write a song for her. Tell her how he really felt and then, see where it went from there. He propped himself back against the van and tried to pick up where he left off. Glancing up at Amethyst who was currently rolling her way towards the tide.

“Hey be careful!” He called out to her. “You could drown!”

“I don’t need to breathe!” She yelled back.

“Oh… okay!” He had only been hanging out with these ladies, these Crystal Gems as they called themselves, for a little while but the first time he had ever met Amethyst she had shapeshifted into some kind of owl and then into the human she was now (or something humanlike at the very least) right before his very eyes. Another one of them had materialized a huge gauntlet from out of nowhere. There was obviously something extra special about them. Something that put them aside from regular Average Joes like him. He didn’t really care what it was though, he just enjoyed their company. Even if two of them had been a bit standoffish since he decided to stay in Beach City a little longer than intended.

He listened to Amethyst play in the waves for a little while and almost nodded off once or twice before committing himself once more to his work. He needed to get this done. He was meeting Rose tonight and he needed something to let her know he was serious. They’d been hanging out for some time now and he wasn’t really sure if she felt the same way about him as he did about her. Maybe all he was to her was just some fool who was trying too hard and she was just humoring him to be nice. It terrified him, but he needed to let her know how serious he was about her. About “we.”

“About ‘we?’ About us?” He mused to himself. He groaned and scratched that part out of his notebook. He was gonna get this song if it killed him. “Come on Greg,” he told himself, “get it together. Now what was that tune you had before?”

 

“Now what did I come out here to do?” Rose asked herself. She was standing outside the Temple Gate, in the cavern that led to the beach outside. She drummed her fingers against her long white dress, trying desperately to remember what it is she was going to do. She snapped her fingers in remembrance. “Strawberries, of course.” She chuckled to herself and then stood on the crystal-like circle near the door. Just as she was about to head off to her destination a voice suddenly called out to her.

“Oh Rose, have you seen Amethyst anywhere?” A slender, cream-white woman ran up to her.

“No, is she not in her room?”

“No, I mean I haven’t looked in a while but she never stays in her room for too long. She always wants to go outside, always changing into a bird or some kind of wild animal to go over the fence and bother humans. Ugh, I keep telling her it’s too dangerous but she doesn’t listen, she never listens and if something happens to her I don’t know what I’ll-”

“Pearl, please.” Rose placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure she’s fine we just need to keep an eye out for her.” Pearl blushed, rubbing her foot against her legs. She brushed against one of her pink leg warmers with her shoe and adjusted her green shirt slightly.

“Right, you’re absolutely right. We have to be calm. Perfectly and totally calm.”

“Hey guys!” Amethyst said.

“Oh hello Amethyst.” Pearl greeted as she continued to meditate her thoughts. “Now the last time I saw her was at the far end of the-AMETHYST!” She looked down to her side and sure enough the purple little gem was looking back up at her with an impish and satisfied grin on her face. Pearl made a motion to grab her but she ducked out of the way and began running all over the cavern walls. “Oh get down here! Where have you been?!”

“Hanging out with Greg!” Amethyst said as she hopped from the side of the wall and directly towards Rose. Rose was quick and caught her in her arms. “Hi Rose.”

“Hi.” She smiled and tapped her nose with her finger which made Amethyst giggle.

“Hey!” Greg called out from outside the cavern, heavily out of breath. “I said to wait up for me!”

“You’re too slow dude! Pick up the pace!”

“Easy for you to say.” Greg wiped his brow and suddenly realized that it wasn’t just Amethyst up here.

“Oh hey Rose, Pearl.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Hello Greg.” Rose smiled warmly. Pearl might have given him at least a nod in greeting usually but was more preoccupied as she took Amethyst from Rose who started to struggle in her arms.

“Ah, come on Amethyst don’t fuss. Agh! Are you licking me?! Don’t lick me!” Pearl said in disgust.

“I could do this instead.” Amethyst took a sharp bite of Pearl’s arm.

“DeeerrrAAAAAGH!” Pearl yelled in pain. “Would you stop being difficult?”

“Amethyst what did I say about biting?” Rose asked.

“Sorry Rose.” Amethyst groaned as she aimed a kick at Pearl’s stomach.

“You are incredibly rough today.” Pearl reprimanded. She began going on a long tangent to Amethyst about the dangers of going off on her own and exposing herself to humans and to act her age which gave Rose and Greg a moment of privacy.

“Thanks for looking out for her.” Rose commended.

“Oh yeah, she was fine. Can look after herself like nobody’s business.”

“Still, she can get a little… wild.” Rose commented as Amethyst was crawling all over Pearl.

“Hold still for five seconds!” Pearl scolded.

“Anyway, we’re still doing that picnic later aren’t we?” Rose asked.

“Totally.” Greg leaned his arm against a nearby rock, slipping and almost falling flat on his face before he caught himself. “Wow that was slippery. Uh, yeah, yeah totally still doing the picnic thing… yep.”

“Great, I was just going to go pick some strawberries, I know a good place where some wild ones grow.”

“Oh cool, did you want to go pick them together or-”

“Well actually they’re…” She glanced over at the circle behind Pearl and Amethyst.

“Oh yeah, your teleport thing.” Rose had offered to take Greg to several places using the Warp Pad but the first time they had tried it he had become so sick he had nearly thrown up all over her dress and bare feet.

“Oh well, I’ll see you tonight.” Rose said.

“Definitely.” Greg said trying his best to look cool while blood pumped through his veins at ten times the normal expectancy.

Rose stepped onto the Warp Pad and waved as a bright light shone from the outer rims of the circle and up to the cavern ceiling, possibly going even higher than that. When the light had faded Rose was gone and all that remained were Greg and the other two Gems. Greg sighed in deep relief and began wracking his mind once again. He needed that song, even just a couple of verses would do. He walked out of the cavern and rested on the sand hill leading down towards the beach. He pulled out his notebook which he had been keeping under his arm and hoping desperately Rose wouldn’t see it and ask what was inside. Arming himself with a pencil once more he went back to work. With the gentle sounds of Amethyst and Pearl bickering as ambience.

“All right Amethyst really you can stop bouncing off the walls now!”

“I’ll stop doing it when it stops being fun!”

“Amethyst come on! You could hurt yourse-AGH!”

“Woop, friendly fire. Sorry Pearl.”

“Please get off my face…”

 

“Mmmm” He heard a vague noise say to him. It had been calling out to him for some time it seemed but for the life of him he couldn’t force himself to answer it. He had drifted off some time ago, somewhere between trying to work out the second stanza of the song and fantasizing about Ducks wearing sweaters. “Mmmrrrregggg” the voice cried again. A bit more profound this time. Five more minutes mom, is what he would say if he were conscious. Where was his mother? Where was he? What was he doing with his life? Why was he riding on top of an Alpaca?

“GREG!” He jolted out of his stupor gasping for breath. The voice that had been trying to wake him for the past couple of minutes was none other than the fourth and final member of the Crystal Gems. A taller, light red skinned figure who wore a small tunic with a lightning stripe in the middle and pants that stretched up to her lower stomach. Her eyes were covered by sunglasses and her hair was a rather impressive cubic afro. Greg wondered from time to time what kind of conditioner she used to keep it that way but never really bothered to ask. Garnet was the kind of person who mostly kept whatever secrets she had to herself. As such they had barely spoken to each other in all the time he had decided to stay, this being one of the rare exceptions.

“Garnet, did I fall asleep?” He yawned.

“Yes.” She answered in a deep and monotonous voice. “And you left all this paper on the hill.” She looked down at the piles of rolled up paper Greg had tossed aside in his fit of writer’s block.

“Oh right,” he began picking up as many as he could carry. “Sorry about that, I’ve just been trying work on this… this thing for Rose you know.” Garnet stared at him silently. He almost wished she would take the glasses off so he could have some facial expression to work with at least. He could never tell if Garnet was looking at him like she understood him or if she just thought he was crazy. Maybe it was both for all he knew.

“Anyway, I’ve been at it most of the day and I want to use as a sort of… I don’t know a sort of way to ask her tooooooo… go steady with me.” He was met with the same blank stare as before.

“Go… go steady do you know what that is?”

“Can’t say I do.” Garnet admitted as she watched him fumble around trying to grab paper as it was being blown away by the breeze.

“It’s kind of an oldie expression, don’t know why I used it. I just kind of wanted to ask her if… she’d be my girlfriend, you know.”

“I didn’t know you had to ask.” Garnet said as she folded her arms.

“What?”

“I figure you spend a lot of time together until eventually you just decide you’re a couple.”

“Maybe.” Greg wondered. He was fairly surprised at how uncharacteristically talkative Garnet was being at the moment. “Still I guess for formality’s sake or something. Or maybe just for my sake. I need to know whether or not Rose is looking for something like that from someone like me.” He confided.

“She likes you a lot.” Garnet told him truthfully. “From the moment you showed up you’ve had some kind of effect on her. Couldn’t wait a minute after you were gone to put that shirt on the first time.”

“Really?” Greg’s face turned beat red and he almost dropped the handful of paper wads he had collected so far. “So, you think maybe she _does_ like me that way or…”

“It’s a possibility.” Now it was Greg whose face was blank.

“So is that a yes or a no or… what?”

“It is what it is.” Garnet leaned down to pick up a lone wad and placed it gently at the top of the pile in Greg’s arms.

“Thanks.” Greg said. “Uh, where’s the nearest trash can?” Wordlessly Garnet formed a bubble over the pile and with a flick of her wrists it was gone. “Oh.” Greg said, slightly caught off guard from the sudden display of magic. “Neat.” They looked at each other in silence for a few moments more. The sort of silence that feels a bit like you’re in an ocean you would very much like to get out of but for the life of you neither one will make the first move for shore. It was actually Garnet who made the first few strokes, by silently walking up the hill towards the Temple Gate.

“Hey wait, Garnet!” Greg exclaimed.

“Yes?” Garnet turned back slightly.

“You’ve known Rose a pretty long time right?”

“Longer than you know.” She answered vaguely.

“Well maybe you could uhm… help me?” He clamped his hands together and twisted them every which way.

“With what?”

“Just, I don’t know building confidence or something like that, help me figure out if she really does like me like that or if I’m just wasting my time.”

Normally Garnet wouldn’t pay much mind to whatever antic Greg was up to. She didn’t have any strong feelings against or in favor of him but humans confused her more than she would like to admit and preferred to just leave him alone when she could. But she had to admit, she didn’t like seeing him like this. Worried to death and lacking confidence where usually he was a pretty optimistic sort.

“All right, I’ll give you a little help.” She sighed.

“You will?!” Greg wore a face of a kid who had just figured out his birthday, Halloween and Christmas had been rolled into one convenient day.

Garnet shrugged. “I have a soft spot for romance.”

 

“So Rose, we’ve known each other for some time now and… well actually it hasn’t been that long at all but I feel it’s been a long time because every day I spend with you feels like an eternity and… ugh that’s so corny.”

“A little.” Garnet agreed. “Just keep going with it.” They were currently sitting across from each other a little ways down on the beach. Garnet suggested Greg imagine her as Rose to try and get the nerves out of his system for when he tried it for real which in theory sounded like an excellent idea. But in practice…

“Rose, I think you’re a very beautiful woman and, well I don’t just like you because you’re beautiful, I mean you are beautiful but that’s not the only thing I like about you. I mean I like your hair, your dress is always super pretty and, NO! That’s just more physical stuff! I swear I like you for more than your looks!!!” In his desperation to convince the spectral Rose he had taken Garnet by the shoulders and was shaking her frantically. In complete reflex Garnet took Greg by the collar of his shirt and flipped him over her head and onto the sand behind her. Greg stared up at her with an expression one could only have when they were in complete awe and when their spine might be severely fractured.

“Sorry, you startled me.” She said in the same monotonous tone she always had.

“No harm done.” Greg squeaked. Garnet picked herself off the sand and offered a hand to Greg who took it (albeit with a bit of hesitance). “Maybe role play isn’t what I need.”

“What about role play?” A gentler voice asked behind him. Greg spun around to be greeted by Pearl yet again.

“Oh, Pearl. How long were you… anyway, we’re just uh, trying to-”

“He’s trying to ask Rose to ‘go steady’ with him.”

“Go ‘steady?’” Pearl asked.

“Yeah you know like, boyfriend/girlfriend?” Greg explained.

“Oh. OH!” Pearl’s neutral face seemed to morph into a mixture of shock and terror. “Oh, well why not I mean we Gems don’t exactly adhere to the primitive natures of human mating rituals, and she’s only known you for a few weeks which isn’t really that long at all considering how old she is,” Greg furrowed his eyebrows. ‘How old she is?’ Pearl continued to talk to herself as she paced the beach and would probably continue to do so for quite a while if Garnet hadn’t stopped her.

“What do you think Greg should do Pearl?” Pearl looked at Garnet and then at Greg. She sighed in what seemed like reluctant acceptance and went on.

“Well, your talents are musically prone Greg, or so Rose told us. Did you consider writing a song?”

“Yeah actually, that’s the first thing I thought of.” He gestured for Pearl to wait a minute as he ran towards The Temple and grabbed his notebook. “I’ve been trying to come up with some lyrics for this,” he said as he came back, “but I can’t really work anything out.” He handed it to Pearl who began muttering to herself as she quickly examined the page.

“What’s this part about zucchinis?” She inquired.

“Oh, I’m cutting that part out.” Greg said. Pearl made a noise in her throat and continued to read. Her face making all sorts of strange grimaces and half frowns as she did. Greg looked to Garnet for some sort of communication but all she did was shrug.

“Well,” she finally said, “we can come back to the song later.” She tossed the notebook over her shoulder much to Greg’s horror. “Maybe what you need is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa makeover!”

“Makeover?” Greg strongly didn’t like the sound of that.

“Yes, exactly. I mean you’ve been wearing the same tattered T-shirts ever since you came here.” Pearl circled Greg as she spoke, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt after a quick inspection of it.

“Yeah we were gonna sell these shirts as we went on tour.” Greg said. He hadn’t really thought about the tour for a long time. Not since he ditched Marty near the edge of town.

“You can’t really expect to ask Rose something so serious as her hand in union wearing one of your dirty little concert shirts can you?” Pearl asked him in unintentional revile.

“I wasn’t gonna ask her something _that_ serious,” Greg said hastily. “I mean I’m not old enough to-”

“It’s fine.” Pearl interrupted. Lost in her own thoughts as she picked a strand of hair from Greg’s long locks. “We’ll take you into town and buy you something appropriate. Rose deserves nothing but the best.”

“You’d like to think that wouldn’t you Pearl?” A third voice spoke from above them. Amethyst had morphed into an owl yet again and was hovering over them.

“Amethyst get down here!”

“Nah, I like it up here.” She began gently gliding in a circle around the two other Gems and Greg.

“Amethyst!” Pearl raised her finger preparing another long winded speech but Garnet took it in her hand.

“Wait.” She turned and spoke to the bird. “Amethyst, you’ve been into the town a number of times, is there some sort of shop where Greg can get new clothes?”

“Yeah now you mention it there’s a little place I know.” Amethyst said cockily.

“Ha, excellent!” Pearl exclaimed.

“Nice, can you take us there?” Greg asked.

“Sure, whatever.” Amethyst said. “It’s not the best place ever, I hang out there when I want to turn into a giant bug and pop out of trashcans and scare people.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that for now.” Pearl mumbled to herself.

“Follow me.” She flew off in the direction towards the fence and the other three followed suit. Pearl had to admit the last thing she thought she would do today was help give Greg of all people a well needed wardrobe change, but the prospect sounded at least mildly entertaining. Even if it meant exposing themselves to the humans on the other side of the fence. But then Greg had come from over the fence and he was harmless if not a bit buffoonish. How bad could it really be?

           

Amethyst had led them to a quaint little clothes store in the middle of a strip mall. They had gotten a few weird glances as they passed through the town, which was to be expected given how rarely any of them spent time over the fence. Amethyst had a bit more experience among humans but it was more often than not spent shapeshifted as a cat or dog or any other animal humans were bound not to give too much notice too. Only Rose spent an adequate amount of time on the human side of the fence in her regular form and even then it was still very rare. They were mostly content to keep to themselves and let the humans keep to themselves in turn. And that was the beauty about something as simple as a fence. Simply put it up blockading The Temple at each side, add a little sign to it, and humans would leave it alone. So simple yet so inspired.

That is until someone like Greg comes along and rams his van headfirst into it. It took them a good couple of days to get it back up and even then it just didn’t have the same luster it had before that little incident. And now here the Gems were, helping the very man who had literally broken down their walls and were now in the heart of foreign territory. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had dealings with humans before in their time on Earth, that was inevitable, but it usually wasn’t for very long and humans were a bit too inquisitive to their liking anyway. Even now in the store the three Gems were met with stares and whispered pointing from little kids and their gossiping mothers. It didn’t matter that much, all they needed to do was find the right outfit for Greg and they’d be on their way. How hard could that be?

“Well I’m not looking for something too fancy.” Greg told them as he surveyed some of the fancier penguin suits near the back. “We’re just going on a picnic, I don’t need to wear-”

“Oh nonsense,” Pearl interrupted as she took one of the vests from the shelves and shoved it into Greg’s arms. “If you really want to impress someone like Rose you need to dress the part.” She chuckled, “And you definitely have an awfully long way to go before you impress Rose with the way you dress.”

“Uh, thanks?” Greg’s voice was muffled from the pile of dress shirts and vests Peal kept piling into his arms.

“You’re welcome.” She said earnestly as she pushed him towards the dressing room. “Now try some of these on and see how they feel.”

After practically shoving him behind the curtain of one of the dressing rooms the three Gems loitered in wait for some time. Garnet couldn’t help but be drawn to the row of sunglasses and began discretely trying a few on for size, careful no human saw her (one did but only for a brief second, enough to make them think what they saw underneath her shades was merely a trick of the light or some such excuse). Amethyst was running in and out of clothes racks and generally making a huge mess an understandably bitter employee would have to pick up later. Pearl would normally admonish Amethyst for such behavior but she was lost in her own thoughts and all she said was a nonchalant, “Pick up after yourself when you’re done.”

Greg came out a few times modeling each outfit only to be met with Pearl shaking her head and gesturing him back inside with her hand. Each new combination of dress shirt, dress pants, vest, khaki suit, khaki pants, felt more and more ridiculous as he tried them. And it only got worse from there.

“What… is that?” Pearl pointed at the current suit Greg was wearing. It was a decent suit all things considered. Yellow with light brown sleeves, buttoned down, it could probably pass as a wearable shirt for something simple like a picnic. Were it not for the fact that the entire thing was decorated with garish flowers covered in glitter.

“It’s uh… ‘Flower Power.’” Greg remarked reading the tag. Pearl looked as if she was about to vomit while Amethyst was cracking up on the pile of pants she had made as her own little hill. Garnet rubbed her nose behind her sunglasses and sighed deeply. “Rose likes flowers right?”

“Ooooohoho no, no. No no no no no no no. No.” Pearl shook her head. “Pick something else.”

“Guys really, don’t you think this is kind of silly?” Greg asked placing his hands on his hips as the glitter on the flowers sparkled like stars in the moonlight.

“No way man.” Amethyst said trying to keep her composure and seriously failing. “You’re a regular stud.”

“I mean, if I’m really gonna do this thing shouldn’t I just try and be myself?” Greg asked with a crooked smile.

“No.” Pearl replied bluntly. His crooked smile fell into a straight frown.

“This is just ridiculous. I feel like an old man wearing half these suits and I feel like a kid wearing this… whatever this is! There’s gotta be other places to look, where’d you guys get your clothes?” The Gems all stared at each other nervously.

“We didn’t really ‘get’ them anywhere, we just sort of… made them?” Pearl replied.

“Oh with your own sewing machines and what not?” Greg asked.

“Something like that.” Garnet responded. Greg reflected on their attire. They hadn’t exactly changed clothes ever since he met them, maybe they had numerous copies of the same types of clothes. Come to think of it;

“Rose wears her white dress pretty much all the time.” He remarked. “The only other thing I’ve seen her wear is my shirt but she just wears it over it.”

“Yes well, our garments are definitely more durable than your human variety. They can serve us well for centuries at a time.” Pearl commented.

“Centuries?” Pearl bit her lip.

“Well, I, uh, haha centuries I never said… that’s an ugly shirt Greg.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, what did you mean ‘centuries?’”

“Nice going.” Amethyst quipped.

“I didn’t say anything, I didn’t… UGLY SHIRT!” She yelled.

“We’re a lot older than we look Greg.” Garnet finally answered. “And much older than any human. Including you.”

“But, that doesn’t make any sense.” Greg stammered. “You all look like you could be my age, well except Amethyst I know you’re not that old.”

“Older than you.” Amethyst said.

“What? No way, you’re like, 7!”

“How old are you?” Amethyst asked.

“Twenty-four.” Greg replied. Amethyst laughed in her throat.

“Oh yeah, I’m waaaaaaaaaaay older than you dude.” They had to be messing with him, Greg thought. Garnet and Pearl looked like they could be around his age if not a little older, and Rose definitely had a much different air about her but she certainly didn’t look like a winter chicken. Winter chicken? He was pretty sure that was a thing.

“So,” Greg began. “How old is Rose?” Pearl gasped.

“Greg! You do not ask something so personal like that!”

“RUDE!” Amethyst bellowed.

“No, I’m just curious I’m not trying to be rude!” Greg said defensively.

“It was a little rude.” Garnet agreed.

“Well how would you react if you got told some people you know were really centuries years old?”

“I would respect their privacy! If you really want to know how old Rose is you should ask her!” Pearl said in a huff.

“Okay, maybe I will.” Greg said hoping to end the discussion.

“NEVER ASK SOMEONE LIKE ROSE HOW OLD THEY ARE!” He failed.

“But you just said if I wanted to know-”

“In fact don’t mention anything about age at all. Just change out of that ridiculous thing and find something else.” Pearl rubbed her temples as Greg went behind the curtain once again. He’d always hated shopping for clothes and this was no exception. In fact it might be the cream of the crop on all his bad shopping experiences. This whole thing seemed so pointless. And not just the shirt shopping, the entire idea of asking Rose to… maybe he ought to forget it. Head straight for his van and drive away forever while she could still easily forget about him. It sounded a lot better than making a fool of himself right in front of-

Oh. Now this one was probably the most ridiculous of the lot. And yet, it seemed like the sort of ridiculousness that a person like Rose would totally be for. Yeah, and why not? He stepped outside of the curtain to show the other Gems.

“What do you think?” He asked. Pearl turned towards him and opened her mouth, closing it when she got a good look at Greg. Amethyst let out a small ‘woah’ and Garnet stood as silent as she had normally been. They all looked at her for the final verdict.

“Yeah.” She said. “I think that’ll do it.”

 

They exited the shop shortly after paying for the suit Greg had chosen (he paid for it anyway, the Gems didn’t have any money). He couldn’t stop thanking them as they made their way back to the fence bowing his head so much his neck hurt.

“I’m completely serious, I feel like this is exactly what I needed to calm some nerves. Oh man, tonight’s gonna be perfect I can tell. Just perf-”

“You still gonna sing your song to her?” Amethyst piped up. Greg’s face turned pale white.

“Oh… yeah. I’ll work on it a little more before we’re supposed to meet up.”

“You don’t think it’s a little weird.” Amethyst said. “Singing to somebody?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, singing someone a song, it’s kind of corny to me.” She stated.

“Corny?” Greg whimpered.

“It is a rather archaic method.” Pearl commented. “Harkening back to the times when suitors would sing serenades to their woman of interest on those horribly wooden instruments. What were they called?”

“Lutes.” Garnet said.

“Yes, those.”

“Hey you remember that one minstrel guy who wouldn’t stop following us after he got a crush on Pearl?” Amethyst recalled. “He kept singing this really awful tune and was so out of key. And then Garnet got so annoyed she took his sitar and snapped it in half.” Garnet cracked a smile out of the corner of her lip.

“I apologized afterward.” She said.

“Yes well at least it made him go away finally.” Pearl blushed sourly. Greg cleared his throat nervously. He wasn’t entirely sure if they had forgotten he was with them or not. They stopped as they approached the gate. Garnet passed her hand over the lock which opened automatically.

“Well, Greg.” Pearl said as she stepped through the gate. “It’s been moderately pleasant, I wish you a good evening and good luck.” She seemed to add that last part half-heartedly but at least in an attempt to be supportive.

“Go get ‘em stud.” Amethyst elbowed his side as she joined Pearl. Greg’s heart raced faster than it had all day. Whatever confidence that little trip just gave him had been thrown right out the window and ran over with a semi-truck. Garnet walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Greg, don’t worry if you can’t ask her just yet. You do it when you feel like you’re ready. I know you’ll be fine when you do.” Greg looked into her shades and saw his own nervous reflection. He never would have guessed Garnet would be the one to give him words of much needed encouragement, much less give him a reassuring smile. He had been wrong about her entirely. She wasn’t the stoic loner with a heart of stone after all.

“Good luck Greg, I hope it goes well.” She gave him a respectful nod and turned to join the other Gems. Greg waved at them feebly as they walked back to The Temple on the other side of the cliff. Mustering up as much courage as he could and firmly gripping the bag with the killer suit in it he rushed back towards his van. He still had work to do.

“What did you say to him back there?” Pearl asked Garnet when they were well out of Greg’s earshot.

“What he needed to hear.” She answered simply.

“Do you think he actually has a chance?” Amethyst asked as she climbed onto Pearl’s back.

“Who knows?” Pearl replied disinterestedly, adjusting her arms so that Amethyst could fit her legs more snugly between them. “All I know is that I’d rather not go through all that again.” The other two voiced their agreement and spent the rest of the short walk to The Temple mostly in silence.

The sun was setting beautifully against the horizon, covering the beach in a wonderful orange glow. What clouds were up in the air were colored a light pink as the sky grew darker around them. For all the strangeness that humans like Greg provided to this planet, it was quite beautiful they all would admit. Especially Rose. And speak of the devil, as they entered the cavern at the base of The Temple the Warp Pad emitted a bright glow and a ray of light came down. Revealing Rose herself when the light had parted, her dress patterned with red spots.

“Hello Gems!” She said enthusiastically, waving a basket full of strawberries back and forth in her left hand.

“Oh Rose.” Pearl said in surprise. “We were just uh, sitting by the beach all afternoon. Nothing else. Nothing at all, certainly didn’t go over the fence for any reason at all. Haha, all quiet and boring without you. Ha.” She smiled nervously. Rose stared at her and the other Gems.

“Okay.” She beamed and then added. “I’m very sticky.” She placed the basket by the side of the Warp Pad. “I’m gonna go clean myself up.” The Temple Gate opened as she approached it and Rose was engulfed in a pink light before the door shut itself sealing her inside. Pearl breathed easier.

“We almost spilled the beans.” She said.

“Yes. ‘ _We_.’” Garnet said no more and instead made her way into The Temple. The door opened revealing another room entirely different from Rose’s and Garnet disappeared inside.

“What was that about?” Pearl asked Amethyst who yawned.

“Listen P, I’m tired.” She hopped down from Pearl’s back and lazily made her way over to The Temple Gate. It opened for her revealing yet another room different from the others. “I’ma take a nap. Don’t wait up for me.” And finally Amethyst in turn had disappeared to parts unknown to anyone but the Gems inside The Temple.

“How do you like that?” She asked aloud. Only just realizing she was alone in the cavern. “Oh, right.” Clearing her throat she followed suit and opened The Temple Gate to her own room and the cavern was quiet once again.

 

Greg had spent the last half an hour frantically getting everything ready. He laid out an old blanket he kept in the van and started laying out various containers. It wasn’t anything too fancy, a bit of fruit, some store bought cupcakes, some water and a few sodas. Still it had never really been about the food. He placed a little vase in the center of the blanket and put a carefully preserved rose in the vase. He stepped back a moment to observe it and wondered if the rose was a bit overkill. He meant it as a sort of joke but she had probably gotten those kind of jokes or references a lot. No, maybe it was better to get rid of the rose altogether. And the food. And himself.

After spending ten minutes wondering whether or not he should keep or discard the rose he spent the majority of his time waiting by penciling out a rough draft of the song he had been working out before. His notebook was still on the Gem’s side of the fence and at this point had probably been swept up by the tide but it didn’t make a huge difference, he kept a tiny spare on him and used it for quick sketches or song ideas. The little thing had saved him from going mad more times than he could count. And as the sun crept away behind the sea and the light around him became dimmer he believed he finally had something good. It still wasn’t finished entirely, he’d have to put it to music and work out some of the kinks you always had in a first draft but it was something. He was good on his feet anyway, he’d just strum out a few tunes on his guitar and see which one worked best.

“Mind if I sit here?” Greg looked up to see none other than Rose Quartz standing over him with a picnic basket in her arm. He nearly choked on his own spit.

“Ah! Rose!” He coughed violently. “I forgot you were coming. Well I didn’t forget, I was just, caught up in…” he quickly slipped the notebook in his pocket.

“Are you all right?” Rose asked as she sat down on the blanket next to him.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine.” He smiled anxiously and Rose smiled back, much more warmly. It set him at an easier mood to see her smile. The good feeling didn’t last long when he noticed he was still wearing his ordinary clothes. “Oh shoot! Give me a second!” He jumped up from the ground and ran to his van, grabbing the bag and closing the back doors. “Just be a minute!” He called from inside.

“Okay!” Rose called back. “I’ll be out here.”

She half-mindedly plopped strawberry after strawberry in her mouth, watching the last of the sun set and the sky turn from a light blue to a darker shade. The moonlit sky and all the stars in it were enough to illuminate the beach though. It was one of the benefits to having a base so far away from any city, you always had a clear unadulterated view of the night sky. She could hear Greg shuffling in the back of his van and wondered if she should knock on it to make sure he was still fine. She let it be for now. Whatever he was doing in there he obviously didn’t want her to see. She was content to watch the waves gently collide with the shore for the time being.

It wasn’t too long after that that the back doors of Greg’s van came open. Rose turned her head and laughed a little before covering her mouth. He had stepped out of the van wearing a white shirt and white pants, with blue collars and three blue stripes scattered around the shirt. The shoulder collars were ridiculously extended and Greg could barely walk in the high flats that went along with it.

“Look at you.” Rose said still trying not to laugh. “Mr. Fancy.”

“But wait, there’s more!” Greg turned around and showed her the back of his shirt. A huge stripe with a star ring pattern on it. “And when I touch this bad boy.” He pressed the stripe on the upper left side of his chest and the ring pattern started to light up. Rose couldn’t hold it in anymore and busted up on the spot. Greg joined her.

“I wish I knew we were doing formal wear.” Rose brushed a tear from her eye. “I would’ve shown up in something that matched.” She snorted.

“I like your dress.” Greg said as he sat down next to her. “No need to fix what ain’t broke.” They both stared out into the sea for a good while after that. Neither of them really speaking to each other but enjoying each other’s company regardless. It was easier to feel like you were doing something while doing nothing when you had someone important to share it with.

“It’s beautiful out tonight.” Rose said.

“Yeah.” Greg agreed with a sigh of content. He rested his head in his hands and leaned against the side of the van as he listened to the waves. Rose began humming a tune which only made the setting more serene. He closed his eyes as he listened to her hum, she had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He could only imagine what it was like to hear her sing in full.

“You’ve barely touched any of the food.” Rose said, breaking him out of his stupor.

“Huh? Oh yeah I uh… I’m actually not that hungry.” He admitted.

“Me neither.” She shrugged. The official truth was that she didn’t need to eat at all but she figured it was best to handle revelations like that one step at a time. Greg was a smart man though and she knew he could tell they weren’t exactly normal. And yet he never asked much of anything about where she and the Gems came from and how long they’ve been here. All he asked of her was simple things like how she liked Beach City, why she had come to hear him sing that fateful night all those weeks ago, what her aspirations and hobbies were. He was a simple man, but he was passionate as well. Passionate about knowing all the simple facts about her, to the point where he barely spoke about himself unless prodded. It was one of the cuter things about him, she found.

“Kind of a shame to waste all this food though.” Greg said.

“We can give it to Amethyst.” Rose decided. “She gobbles these things up like she’s starved to death.”

“A healthy appetite’s the best kind.” Greg said. Small talk was the best he could manage right now. He was building himself up, preparing to pop the serious question he intended to ask. Well not _the_ question, goodness no, but the slightly less important yet still kind of important question that could change his life question. That question.

“What made you decide space?” She asked looking up at the stars wistfully.

“How’s that?”

“As your theme.” She explained. “When you started your band you had a whole variety of themes and ideas to choose from. What made you settle on space?”

“Well with a name like ‘Universe’ you kind of want to live up to the name.” He chuckled but Rose’s face remained stolid. She obviously wanted something more out of that answer. “I guess,” he said seriously, “I’ve always kind of looked up to space. In more than a literal sense I mean. Read up about the astronauts you know, and how they went to the moon back in the 60s. I was a little kid when that happened, I don’t even remember watching it. But I remember seeing my dad look up to the moon and the stars when we were outside once and he was… crying. He muttered something about the astronauts under his breath and he went back inside without saying anything else. I didn’t understand why he was crying at the time but, I got something else. A sort of feeling that space… it was something else. Something magic.

“So when I started up the band and got Marty as my manager I knew the theme I wanted to do most was something revolving around space. It’s so cool isn’t it, space?” Rose nodded and smiled as he told his story. “All the possibilities of it, the TV shows, the movies with all those cool space dudes and their awesome ships, how they’re able to just… travel the stars and escape. Escape from normality and go on these epic adventures. You grow up on that kind of stuff and it does stuff to you. It makes you want to saddle up in your spaceship and… fly on out of here.” There was a twinkle in Greg’s eye as he looked above him at the infinite cosmos. He remembered that night where his dad had looked at the same sky and started sobbing unexplainably and now he thought he understood fully why he had. It was hard to keep a tear falling from his eye as well.

“But that probably sounds stupid.” He said brushing the tear away.

“No, not at all. I understand exactly.” Rose said. “I was sort of the same way a long time ago.” She confided. “I guess that’s part of why I decided to stay here.”

“In Beach City?” Greg asked. Rose hesitated, wondering if this was the right time to tell him.

“Yeah.” No. Now wasn’t the time. The two of them stared up at the sky now, watching as a few falling stars whizzed by.

“No take-backs!” Rose punched him gently on the shoulder collar as each one rocketed through the night sky.

“I don’t think that’s how you look at shooting stars.” Greg cocked an eyebrow at her.

“It is when you’re with me.” She stated. “Another one!” And another punch. Greg rubbed his shoulder to null the slight pain. Even if she was pulling them Rose packed a mean punch.

They talked some more as they continued to sky-watch. Greg listened to her point out and explain some of the constellations and he would chime in and give her backstory on how he had come up with a number of songs and a bit about his tour. Greg couldn’t help but notice as she talked about the stars and the many different types of known galaxies to humans that she was talking as if she had been there. To all these places across the universe. It couldn’t have been more than his imagination, but still there was a certain glimmer in Rose’s voice when she spoke about it. Something that sounded a bit like fond remembrance.

“If you could go anywhere in the universe, Mr. Universe, where would it be?” She asked him as they lay on the blanket.

“Anywhere at all?” He turned to his side to look at her.

“Anywhere at all.” She repeated. He thought hard about it. He supposed he hadn’t really thought that hard about it before at all. Ironic.

“I guess,” he thought aloud, “I guess I’d just like to see someplace different. Someplace way out of our own galaxy. Light-years away, nowhere near Earth. Where weird aliens who spoke perfect English lived and were either friendly or dangerous. I was all about those kind of stories as a kid.” Rose chuckled softly. “What about you?” He turned the question to her.

“Me?” She turned over on her back to watch the stars again. “I’m happy here.” She answered. “Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, they’re all here. All the weird and wonderful Earth locations and cities.” Greg nodded with each one. He guessed your true desires didn’t extend that much far from home. “You.” She added finally. Greg blushed and looked at Rose who was still looking up at the sky. Every little thing about her was so perfect at this moment. At any moment really but particularly at this moment she shined brighter than any supernova in the far off sky. If he was going to ask her, it had to be now.

“Rose?” She turned back on her side towards him.

“Yes?” Greg swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly moved his hand over to his pocket where the tiny notebook waited for him. His guitar was still in the back of the van but he didn’t need it, it would waste time going to get it. He’d do it a cappella. He’d do it now when the time was absolutely right.

Except… no. Something wasn’t right. His hand hesitated as it neared his pocket. The lump climbed its way back to the middle of his throat and the words of encouragement that ran through his head not five seconds ago subsided and couldn’t be brought back no matter how hard he tried. This wasn’t it. It wasn’t the time.

“Never mind.” He retracted his hand and placed it on his stomach. “It can wait.” They were silent a few minutes more. Greg cursed himself under his breath for not acting on it when the moment was perfect but he just couldn’t do it. For whatever reason now didn’t seem like the time and he couldn’t change that. For little good it usually did him, he trusted his gut on the matter. But goodness knows when he would get another chance like this again.

“I want to show you something.” Rose said suddenly.

“Hm?” Greg asked. Rose propped herself up and to her full height, which was quite impressive, towering over Greg’s van even.

“It’s a secret place. Well, semi-secret. The other Gems don’t know about it at least.” She offered her hand to Greg. “Interested?” She smiled eagerly down at him as she waited for him to take her hand. Greg smiled back. He was never one to pass up an adventure.

 

Rose led the way up the cliff and towards the lighthouse at the very top. Greg tried to keep pace with her but he had always hated trudging uphill. Any kind of uphill. Stairs, cliffs, anything going up was a nightmare to him. He wasn’t out of shape or anything he had been careful to watch his figure for the tour (which he supposed wasn’t going to be much of a concern now) but still, this was doing torture to his legs.

“It’s just up here.” Rose called behind her shoulder.

“Right… behind you.” Greg panted. They kept walking, up and up until at last they stopped in front of the lighthouse door.

“Just the lighthouse?” Greg asked, eyeing the ‘condemned’ sign on the lawn.

“The townspeople say it’s haunted.” Rose said with a twinge of humor. “The light always activates itself every night. And yet, nobody ever goes in, and nobody ever comes out!” If she had a flashlight Greg assumed she would be waving it menacingly at her face while going _ooooooo_. “But I have a key so we can just head on in.” Rose produced the key from out of thin air and unlocked the front door. She pushed it open and bid Greg go in first.

“Well I’m not gonna lie,” he remarked as his eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. “It is kind of ominous in here.”

“Oh don’t be timid.” Rose teased. “There’s no ghost here, I spread that rumor.”

“You did?” Greg grinned. “Why?”

“To tell you the truth I used to be pretty good friends with the last owner of the lighthouse.” She formed a bubble and used its light to guide their way up a long flight of stairs (‘oh goody’ Greg thought). “When they moved away they left me the key and the deed, and I’ve been looking after this old place ever since.”

“But why the rumors?” Greg asked trying not to trip on the loose floorboards on the stairs.

“It’s kind of embarrassing, but up here is one of the few places no one expects me to be. It’s a sort of hideaway when I need to think or just spend time to myself. And it’s kind of fun to freak people out sometimes when they try and break in here.” She added mischievously. Greg was impressed. He didn’t know Rose had that kind of side to her.

“You won’t tell the other Gems will you?” She asked.

“My lips are sealed.” He motioned his lips shut.

“I hate keeping secrets from any of them,” she said as they went on, “but there are some times where you just need a little alone time that you can’t get from holing yourself up in your room.”

“Totally, I get it.” Greg said. “But then, why show me if you want keep this place secret?”

Rose stopped near the top of the stairwell. She didn’t say anything for a minute and Greg wondered if he had said something wrong. She looked down at him.

“I don’t know.” She admitted. “I guess I just wanted to show you it for some reason.” She let out a single laugh before continuing upwards. He wasn’t exactly sure he understood her sometimes, but it was a blissful ignorance if anything else.

Rose led the way into a large circular room near what had to be the very top of the lighthouse. A huge switch stood near the wall opposite them and Rose dispelled her bubble to activate it. “Usually takes a little muscle.” She told him as she strained to pull the lever up. Eventually it gave in and the light slowly turned on above them, beginning its slow circle around the upper windows and out for all to see.

“Come on,” she beckoned at another door leading outside, “you haven’t seen anything yet!”

Greg followed her outside and was met with a fresh breeze of nippy air. It was a bit colder up here than on the ground (which, of course, was how these things worked) and it caught him by surprise.

“Over here.” Rose kept gesturing at him to follow her. Greg wasn’t necessarily afraid of heights but he wasn’t sure how well he trusted this old lighthouse. The aluminum walkway was beginning to rust and each step he took he could hear a very sharp creak. Maybe there was a good reason for the sign down below. Any thoughts of complaint left him when he got a good view of what Rose wanted to show him; the world.

Exaggerated perhaps, but there it all was stretched below them. The entire town of Beach City and in the far distance the lights of a nearby actual city. The sleepy little town didn’t have too many lights on and yet it had a rustic beauty to it. A sort of innocence you couldn’t really find in a huge metropolis and only in a beachside little place like this.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Rose leaned against the railing and her hair flowed gently along with the breeze.

“Yeah. You are.” Rose snorted. “What?”

“You didn’t really just do that did you?”

“What?” He asked again.

“The ‘it’s beautiful,’ ‘you are’ cliché?”

“No.” Rose eyed him playfully. “Why what did I say?”

“You said ‘you are’ when I said the view was beautiful.”

“Oh, OH! Oh!” Greg understood. “No, that was just a slip of the tongue I meant to say it is beautiful. I mean, not that I don’t think you’re not beautiful it just, it was a…” he coughed. “It was a Frotian slip.”

“Freudian.” Rose corrected.

“Gesundheit.” Rose snorted again which turned into full laughter this time. “What’d I say that time?!” He yelled jokingly. She nudged him with her hip and the two laughed like children for a good while until eventually they stood in silence once more. Listening to the breeze and watching the little town far below.

Greg knew the choice he was making the second he turned his van around and came back to see Rose but he couldn’t deny there were times when he wondered if he had made the right decision. If he really was just fooling himself and throwing away whatever chance of a career he had. After tonight he never had such doubts again. Standing here, next to the most remarkable woman he had ever met, he had never been happier.

He glanced at Rose’s empty hand and wondered if he should take it in his. He nonchalantly reached over to it but stopped just as he got too close. Wordlessly he moved his hand back to his side. The second time he had backed down and the second time he had hated himself tonight. He jumped slightly when he felt his hand touch something quite soft and gentle. It was Rose’s hand. She had taken his in hers instead. He closed his eyes and sighed, overcome with absolute rapture as he felt her thumb rub against the back of his hand. Whatever it was between the two of them, he knew then without a shroud of a doubt that it was mutual.

 

After an hour spent at the lighthouse admiring the view and sharing in each other’s company they came down, still laughing over a lame joke Greg had recited for the thousandth time. “People always said I’d be a horrible comedian.” He remarked. “But hey, if every porkchop were perfect we wouldn’t have hotdogs.”

“Words to live by.” Rose declared with a small laugh. They continued to talk as they walked down the cliff and towards the fence on the right side of the beach where Greg’s van was parked. When they came to the fence Rose unlocked it the same way Garnet had a few hours ago. “Walk me home?” She propositioned. Greg smirked and offered his arm.

“Malady.” He bowed. She curtsied and took his arm in hers. They walked arm in arm in the moonlight (as best as they could given the noticeable difference in size between them), still joking and talking all the way. There was a part of both of them that wanted the night to go on forever, that time could stop and they would be able to talk to each other endlessly. But as it was for any wonderful night, all things had their end. And inside the tiny cavern in front of The Temple Gate, so marked the end of Rose and Greg’s first of many perfect nights.

“I had a wonderful time.” She told him as she took both his hands in hers.

“Me too.” He blushed, not really sure how else to describe it.

“We should do it again sometime soon.”

“Yeah, definitely.” They stared at each other, neither one wanting to say the first goodbye. Eventually it was Rose who took the initiative.

“Well, I guess… this is goodnight.” She smiled. Greg absolutely melted when she smiled. He was surprised he hadn’t been reduced to a puddle within the first five minutes of the evening.

“Goodnight.” He simply said. Slowly but surely their hands parted and Rose backed away slowly towards The Temple Gate. She waved slightly and pushed her hair behind her ears, her eyes never leaving Greg’s. Perhaps they should have if not just for a moment as she had backed up too far and hit her back against The Temple Gate.

“Oh, haha. It helps if I,” the gem on her naval glowed and the door opened in a flash and flair of pink light. “Well, goodnight.” Rose said again, glancing at the door frame as she backed into it. Greg only stopped waving when the door had completely shut itself and Rose was out of sight. He sighed the deepest sigh he had taken all day and turned to walk back to the other side of the fence.

Until he stopped when the door opened again and Rose shuffled quickly outside and towards him. Without giving him any time to react she leaned down and planted a kiss firmly yet gently on his cheek. If his face had been red before it had gone into a totally new shade of scarlet.

“That’s for… well, it’s for,” she stammered. “Well that.” Without another word she walked back into her room and The Temple Gate shut itself again, this time for the remainder of the night.

Greg stood dead still. Processing what had just happened and replaying it over and over in his mind. He touched his cheek and rubbed it slightly. He could still feel it. It had actually happened. He didn’t imagine it. He leaped for joy and shouted at the top of his lungs for all the cosmos to hear. He rolled all the way down the little sand hill and made a full gallop towards the ocean. Kicking and splashing while laughing like a lunatic on happy pills. If there was anyone out that night who could see or hear his display he didn’t notice nor care. He wanted people to know. If he still kept in close contact with them he would have called his parents right then to tell them the good news. The most exceptionally extraordinary event had just happened to him and he was going to ride that high until the sun came up the next morning if he felt like it.

It turned out to be more like thirty minutes when Greg had finally calmed down and returned to his van. He weaved around like a drunk man and his suit was a complete shambles. He wondered if he’d ever get any use out of it ever again after this but he didn’t care. The night had been an overwhelming success. Even if he didn’t get to ask what he wanted it didn’t change the fact that he felt great. He crammed himself into the back of his van and locked himself in. The smell of fresh seawater from his clothes filling the atmosphere around him.

As he adjusted his soggy pants slightly he felt something hard coming from his pockets. He’d completely forgotten his spare notebook was in there. He pulled it out and was surprised to see it wasn’t the worse for wear. A little soggy, same as the rest of him, but the paper was still writable and the words written in it still eligible. In all honesty with himself he knew he probably wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, he was much too giddy. When he got in these little moods (however rare they were) he always settled them by putting his mind to work and coming up with a song or a sketch for an album cover. And as it was he had just the inspiration already locked in his mind.

After moving a few things around he found a pen and began jotting the first words that came to his mind. After spending most of the day trying to work this out to much frustration he had to admit the words coming to him now weren’t that bad. Certainly not Shakespeare but definitely in the style of Mr. Universe. When he was satisfied with the first few verses he recited them to himself.

_I know I'm not that tall_

_I know I'm not that smart_

_But let me drive my van into your heart_

_Let me drive my van into your heart_

_I know I'm not that rich_

_I'm trying to get my start_

_So let me drive my van into your heart_

_Let me drive my van into your heart_

He smiled to himself as he kept going. In time he would sing this song in front of an audience (maybe even make it into an album for a laugh). And he knew just the kind of audience he had in mind. The only person he ever wanted to sing for anymore.

 

“And that’s the story of how your daddy knew your mommy loved him. And how he decided he had made the right choice in staying here forever.” Greg looked down at his lap and saw that his current audience was sound asleep. “That bad huh?” He joked. “What did you think, too sappy, too short?” The baby continued to dream, making a tiny gargling noise as it snored softly. “Yeah I admit,” Greg said as he slowly stood up from the rocking chair, “It’s not my best ever. Sorry if it disappointed you.” He smiled down at the little bundle. “I’ll tell you a better one next time.”

Greg was a much older man. His long hair had begun thinning and a thick beard had grown on his chin and all around his mouth to his upper lip. He had spent many years in Beach City with the Crystal Gems and had seen many changes happen to and around the town from the fences going down to the Ocean Town incident a few years prior. But the biggest change of all had come from this baby boy wrapped in a blanket he was holding carefully in his arms, trying so desperately not to awaken.

He crept as quietly as he could over to the crib near the middle of the room and placed the bundled baby gently inside it. The little beach house they had built near the base of The Temple on the little sand hill wasn’t quite finished yet, but still they had come a long way with it. The baby was going to need a place of his own when he got older and obtained more of the responsibilities a Crystal Gem faced. For the baby was a Crystal Gem, and he was human. The son of Rose Quartz and Greg Universe not a year old.

Greg ran his fingers through his son’s black curly hair gently as he watched him sleep. “Goodnight Steven.” He whispered softly before walking quietly to the couch and planting himself on it. He lay awake for quite a while, listening to Steven’s quiet breathing. It was the most wonderful sound Greg had ever heard. The roof wasn’t finished yet either so he had a nice view of the stars floating above him millions of miles away. He thought back to that same night he had recounted for Steven, a night spent under the stars with the most extraordinary and most important woman in his life.

Normally he might cry, he had cried almost every night for a long time now, but no tears came to him. There were rare nights when the pain wasn’t as bad as it normally was. When he could think about her and the time they shared with fondness rather than anguish. This night was such a one, and he drifted off to sleep with nothing but warm thoughts and memories to keep him company. She would have liked that. She hated to see anyone cry, most of all him.

Had he stayed awake a few moments more Greg might have noticed that a strange light was emitting from his son’s crib. A light pink glow that illuminated every corner of the incomplete beach house. And stranger perhaps still, it came from the gem protruding from the belly button of the baby. Steven didn’t wake or even stir at all when the light glowed. Nor would he for all the nights it would glow since. For the gem wasn’t only his own, it had once belonged to his mother as well and still shared a part of her even if she was gone. And for each night that Steven felt lonely, afraid, or sad the light would glow as he slept. Wrapping him in its embrace until the morning sun came. Such was the last promise of Rose Quartz to her one and only son;

“I will always be with you, Steven.”


End file.
